


On Wings Grace

by Phyoaros



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: (probably) happy ending, Angst, Caleb has raven wings, F/F, F/M, Gratuitous Violence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, More tags to be added, No Major Character Death, Trent is a dick, Whump, Wings, au where an eighth of the world has wings, everyone else's wings will be tevealed later, mollymauk has wings and is very popular in school, they are viewed as lesser in some circles, this is based on a very old destial fanfic I read when I was younger, this will be very heavy, wing fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 18:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16045796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phyoaros/pseuds/Phyoaros
Summary: It's said that raven wings are bad luck. It's too bad a one Caleb Widogast has a pair of the darkest, blackest wings Mr. Trent Ikithon has ever seen.Or: a highschool AU where an eighth of the world is born with wings, and how Caleb over comes his deep internalized hatred of his own with the help of some friends, and maybe a little bit of romance.





	On Wings Grace

**Author's Note:**

  * For [a-quirk-called-insanity](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=a-quirk-called-insanity).



_Scheiße._

Caleb, who was shaking slightly, looked down at the mess that now made up his bed- well, the closest thing he had to one, anyways. It was more of a cot laying on the floor, but it was still his. What was usually the only place he can find solace was now stained red with blood and _covered_ in brittle, broken feathers. His broken feathers. He hadn’t realized just how hard Ikithon had whipped him last night. Most of the time, he zoned out and got numb after a hour or so, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he didn't have to experience the full amount of pain Ikithon decided he deserved as punishment for existing, and a curse because he didn't know when he really needs to properly wrap up his wounds. 

He walked over to the full length mirror (the only ‘luxury’ he was afforded), trying to twist his body so he could properly see his back and his wings. When he finally managed it, he hissed in pain and surprise. He hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt after the lashing last night, just waited long enough for the bleeding to mostly stop and passed out in the sweatpants he wore yesterday, so he could easily see the full extent of the damage. 

His back was a criss cross of scars and scabs and mottled bruises, some more fresh than others. A few seemed to be bleeding again, likely having been torn in the process of getting up after the blood clotted his skin to the bed sheet. His back wasn’t the worst part, though. No, the worst part definitely had to be his wings- last night, Ikithon had been especially merciless, and went harder than normal on them as a warning to not fuck up at the new school this time. They looked to be missing almost half of their feathers, mostly his secondaries. What remained of the pitch black feathers were covered in dry blood, and in a lot of cases, broken. 

He tried to stretch them a bit, to see if he could understand why the throb of pure heat was so hard to ignore this morning, but let a half-formed scream in pain before he could get them stretched too far. He slapped a hand over his mouth midway through- Ikithon hated whenever he made sound when he didn’t need to- before remembering that he wasn’t home this morning, having left for an important business summit the second he finished with the beating last night. 

Caleb choked back tears of pain and sorrow, looking at his wings again, gently touching them before pulling his hand away like he got burned. _Scheiße_ , even the gentle brush of his hand made his wings twitch, causing him to have to stop another yelp of pain. This was almost as bad as when-

He took a deep breath, trying to center himself. Today was his first day at his new school. He had to focus on getting ready; he could worry about the bed and everything else when he got back. 

He made a move to go grab some of his usual clothes, but realized there was no way he’d be able to put a shirt on, let alone the multiple jackets and layers he had to use to hide his wings, when his back was in the state it was in. He steeled himself and went into the bathroom, turning on the shower as hot as it would go, which was still barely a few notches above luke-warm. He quickly went about doing everything else he had to do for the morning in the bathroom, before gingerly stepping into the shower and beginning the long, long process of washing his back and wings of dirt and blood. It was incredibly painful, and he had to pause every few moments to hiss under his breath, quite a few curses making it out in both Common and Zemnian before he could stop them.

Eventually, after what felt like hours but what was probably only 45 minutes, he stepped out of the shower with fresh tears in his eyes and the job done. While he was washing himself, he had lost even more feathers, most of which were currently laying soaked on the tiled floor of the shower. He looked at them for a moment with disgust, before deciding he would clean them up after school as well. 

He glanced at the antiseptic and bandages that he used specifically when the beatings got as bad as they did last night, torn between properly bandaging up his wings so they would hurt less and getting to school on time, before deciding that school was more important. Besides, if he wasn’t on time, and Ikithon found out? Well… Caleb knew he would probably get another beating, and right now he didn’t think his wings could handle it. There was already a very good chance they were broken, and he _really_ didn’t want to think about what would happen if they were whipped again. He would just have to grind his teeth through the pain today. It would be fine, he’s done it before.

Stepping back into his room, he hurried over to his run down dresser and grabbed all of the clothes he needed. Despite it only being late August, he forced himself to put on his baggy and how clothing, knowing that he needed to make sure it was absolutely impossible to be able to tell he had his wings tucked close to his body. Normally, he would wrap them up tight, flushed with his back. When he does that, he can get away with wearing slightly less clothing, since the wings weren't as obvious. Caleb glanced over his shoulder at his wings; it was obvious that they wouldn't be able to be that confined in the condition they were in.

Quickly throwing on the last of his layers, he went to kneel by his bed, searching for the hidden hollowed out space in the wall where he kept his painkillers. Kneeling like that drew more attention to the hot-white pain he was currently feeling, and he desperately searched as fast as he could. Where was it, he knew he put it somewhere around- there! 

He grabbed a few pills before dry swallowing them and putting the bottle back. He wasn’t technically supposed to have them, but he learned pretty fast after moving in with Ikithon that if he wanted to stay alive and marginally safe, he was going to have to break a few rules.

He always kept a little hollowed out space like the one he had in this room wherever they were at the time. They moved a lot, a mix of Ikithon’s need to move for business, and attempting to keep people unawares of Caleb’s secret. 

Caleb hoisted himself up, grunting with pain and feeling fresh tears gathering in his eyes before blinking them away. He grabbed his backpack (old, battered, and black) that he kept near his door, and hurried downstairs. The house beyond his room was more akin to a small mansion than anything else. Grandiose chandeliers hanged from various ceilings, and modern paintings adorned the walls around him. Most of the house had dark oak floors, finished to a shine. It was a nice place, which made sense. Caleb knows how much Ikathon appreciated finery all too well. It was too bad that he couldn't appreciate living there. To him, it was more of a prison than a home.

He grabbed his bulky full-length jacket that was hanging by the door (the only imperfect thing in sight) and threw it on. He sent a final hurried glance around the foyer, quickly double checking that he didn’t forget anything, before walking out of the ostentatious glass front door. He had his classes to get to.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of a BEAST of my new fanfic! This is going to end up somewhere between 50k-100k, so buckle in my friends. I haven't listened in a while, I just really love this ship, so sorry if I get any facts incorrect! I plan to update at least once every two weeks, though I might update sooner/later depending on my circumstances that week. Please leave kudos and a comment if you like this! Unbeta'ed, so any mistakes are my own :)


End file.
